The full McLibel Appeal begins on Tuesday 12th January 1999 at
10.30am, when Helen Steel (33) and Dave Morris (44) will be in court once
again to challenge the use of libel laws as a form of censorship, and to
overturn the parts of the verdict which went against them in the
controversial case brought by the McDonald's Corporation.

On June 19th 1997, after a 314-day trial - the longest in English
history - in which the defendants had been denied Legal Aid and their
right to a jury trial, Mr Justice Bell ruled that "various of
McDonald's advertisements, promotions and booklets have pretended to a positive
nutritional benefit which their food (high in fat etc) did not match"
and that "customers who eat McDonald's food several times a week will
take the very real risk of heart disease if they continue to do so
throughout their lives encouraged by McDonald's advertising". He
further ruled that McDonald's "exploit children" with their
advertising strategy, are "culpably responsible for animal cruelty" and "pay low
wages" - but despite this, awarded £60,000 damages to McDonald's on the basis that he considered that Helen & Dave had not proven some other points.

Significantly McDonald's have not appealed over these damning rulings
against them, this week stating that the Judge was 'correct in his
conclusions' (submissions, 5.1.99). The McLibel 2 will argue that
these and other findings against McDonald's core business practices were so
damaging to the reputation of McDonald's that the Corporation's claim
for libel should have been thrown out.

Helen & Dave will submit that the Judgment should in any event have
been in their favour based on the overwhelming evidence supporting their
case, and that the parts of the verdict that were against them were
found on the basis of extreme and unnatural interpretations of the
meaning of the London Greenpeace factsheet, including satirical
cartoons and graphics.

The McLibel 2 will also argue that in order to protect the public's
right to scrutinise and criticise companies whose business practices
may affect our lives, health and environment, multinational corporations
should no longer be able to sue for libel. McDonald's have asked the
Appeal Court to prevent Helen & Dave pursuing this submission unless
they give an undertaking that they will pay all of McDonald's costs
for the main trial if they succeed on this point!

After the verdict Channel 4 News said the case would go down as 'the
biggest Corporate PR disaster in history'. McDonald's aim of
suppressing the "What's Wrong With McDonald's?" leaflets
spectacularly backfired, with over 3 million handed out in the UK alone since the writs were served, 400,000 in the week after the verdict - and they
are now being distributed worldwide. The 'McSpotlight' website, with over
20,000 files about McDonald's and the trial, has now been accessed
over 65 million times.

The Appeal takes place in Court 1, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand,
WC2.

Leaflets will be handed out during a protest picket outside the court
on Tuesday 12th January, 9.30 - 11am.

Global McLibel Screening
More than 100 screenings of "McLibel: Two Worlds Collide", the 60-minute documentary controversially pulled by lawyers at both the BBC and Channel 4, will be made on cable channels and at public venues around the world, including Australia & NZ, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Hungary, Peru, Turkey, UK & USA. It can also be viewed on the internet.